By Brendan O’Reilly

The time has come for the Democrats to prove “there’s a better way.”

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine repeated that mantra seven times in the Democratic response to President Bush’s State of the Union Address in January.

The Democrats need to prove to people like conservative author Ann Coulter their midterm victory is not just “the death throes of a dying party,” but a new direction for the country. Demonstrating this will take more than big talk and ethics investigations. It requires big ideas and great accomplishments.

If the Democrats are cocksure they will win the presidency in 2008, they will lose. The party needs to acknowledge this election does not mean the Dems have won over the American populace, but only that President Bush has lost their affection. To earn a high favorability among voters, the Dems will need to succeed where the Republicans have failed over the past six years.

Over the next two years, the Democrats need to come up with plans to reform social security and health care and put the legislation on Bush’s desk. If Bush vetoes sound Democratic plans for reform, he will be seen as acting partisan rather than in the best interest of the people. Bush has yet to exercise his veto power even once, compared to the 37 Clinton used during his two terms. It has been easy for Bush to show restraint since his own party dominates the legislature. But, now that the Dems will control the 110th Congress, it will be a bit harder for him. It has already been revealed by White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten that Bush would veto legislation calling for a scheduled withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

As a lame duck, his popularity rating is almost irrelevant, and he may be picking out his veto pen right now. If he cares for the future of his party, however, he will need to continue the commitment he made to bipartisan cooperation when he said on Nov. 8, “I told my party’s leaders that it is now our duty to put the elections behind us and work together with the Democrats and independents on the great issues facing this country.”

If the next two years are marked by bitter confrontations between the White House and the Democrats, Bush’s legacy will have a short list of accomplishments and the Dems will find themselves as the minority in Congress again. The public will quickly lose its taste for the blue party if they do not put the past behind them and move on to more important things like necessary legislation to ensure the future of important social programs that are currently draining the national budget. The new Congress will need to send the Department of Education back to the drawing board to draft new plans for America’s schools that will put focus back on real education and not standardized testing.

Internationally, the 110th Congress should be focusing on repairing relationships with allies, while retaining American hegemony. Strong political alliances are what will give the United States the negotiating power to stop nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Iran and elsewhere. This issue transcends party lines, and requires the Congress to cooperate with the State Department and vice-versa.

Nuclear proliferation should not dominate presidential debate in 2008. The issue needs to be put to rest much earlier. Every passing day the threat to global security and stability posed by North Korea and Iran increases. It is no laughing matter and there is no room for partisanship.

The war in Iraq is likely to be the most contentious issue between the White House and the 110th. Hopefully, the report from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group on policy options regarding Iraq that is due before New Year’s will set forth a valid compromise. The ISG is co-chaired by James Baker, who was the secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush and President Reagan’s chief of staff, and Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman. If the Congress and the president can agree on a policy somewhere between immediate troop withdrawal and “stay-the-course,” it will be better for U.S. troops and for the Iraqi people compared to the quagmire America finds itself in now.